Singapore fall 4-1 to China in World Cup qualifier after Wu Lei double

SINGAPORE: It was a scoreline that did not truly reflect a largely gritty display from Singapore, but football is a cruel game.

At the Tianjin Olympic Center Stadium on Tuesday (Mar 26), Singapore suffered a 4-1 World Cup qualifier defeat by China.

After a 21st-minute Wu Lei strike gave China the lead, Faris Ramli equalised a minute later. But a controversial second-half penalty by Fernandinho swung the momentum the way of the home side, and late goals from Wu Lei and Wei Shihao added a gloss to proceedings.

Singapore and China headed into the game in contrasting moods, with the Lions buoyed by a 2-2 comeback draw at the National Stadium last Thursday. Their opponents, on the other hand, were widely criticised following the result.

Captain Zhang Linpeng had even said he would quit international football over the "humiliating" result, before making a retirement U-turn. 

In chilly Tianjin, Singapore were without three members of Thursday's starting 11, with Safuwan Baharudin and Lionel Tan missing through suspension and midfielder Anumanthan Kumar absent due to injury.

Branko Ivankovic's men looked like a side determined to make amends as The Lions struggled to keep possession.

The first big chance came China’s way with 20 minutes played but Zhang Yuning could only blaze the ball high with the goal gaping.

But the home side, who are close to 70 places higher in the world rankings at 88th, would seize the initiative a minute later. Wu Lei took advantage of Singapore’s high defensive line to burst through and dink over Hassan Sunny.

However, Singapore have shown that they are not a side to go down without a fight under coach Tsutomu Ogura.

Straight from the restart, a diagonal ball from skipper Hariss Harun caught China’s right back